Areas for Development

The review identified 15 areas for development. These are shown below.

1. Police Scotland should reconsider the requirements of the gap analysis element of workforce planning and revise its approach to involve other key functions. 

2. Police Scotland should develop an improvement plan to address data availability and quality in its people datasets. 

3. The SPA and Police Scotland should further develop the approach to benefits definition, management and reporting, in order to evidence their realisation and re-allocation. 

4. Police Scotland should define the purpose of the new People Strategy (or equivalent) and its relationship to supporting implementation frameworks, policies or plans (including the SWP, training and development, recruitment and retention, equality and diversity strategies etc.). 

5. Police Scotland should consider how it integrates risk identification and management into its next iteration of workforce planning. 

6. Police Scotland should undertake to develop specific service level standards which will facilitate the link between demand and resource requirements. 

7. Police Scotland should consolidate current national workstreams, with clear milestones and timelines, to address operational policy and practice issues which are monitored and supported by the SWP Unit. 

8. The SPA and Police Scotland should review their use of the available people information to develop a more focused escalation report with required actions identified. 

9. When developing a delivery programme for workforce change, Police Scotland should review the overall transformation portfolio to ensure appropriate prioritisation and alignment.

10. Police Scotland should develop a comprehensive approach to SWP stakeholder engagement, involvement and communication, ensuring that staff associations and unions are able to engage on both group and individual bases. 

11. Police Scotland should review the relative roles and resourcing of the service design and organisational design functions, to ensure both alignment with the strategy function and optimum capability and capacity within the force. 

12. Police Scotland should develop a new approach to SWP engagement with operational policing, requiring a more facilitated and supportive style involving a range of support functions. 

13. Police Scotland should seek further clarity on People and SWP partner roles and responsibilities, skills required, their reporting lines and how they work together. 

14. Police Scotland should consider the future design and plans for the SWP function, reflecting CIPD guidance, and addressing the areas for development and next steps we have set out in this report. 

15. Police Scotland should include the training review as part of the SWP refresh.

Actions associated with the above Recommendations and Areas for Development have been prepared, consulted on with colleagues and agreed in order to ensure that the next SWP development process is conducted effectively. These actions are shown in Appendix A.

Regular updates on progress in achieving these actions will allow for internal monitoring and subsequent reporting to SPA and HMICS. This will be governed internally by Corporate Finance and People Board and SPA People Committee.